Process for ornamenting surfaces



Apr. 24, 1923.

A. H. LEvlNE PROCESS FOR ORNAMENTING SURFACES Filed sept. 2, 1921 TToRNgy Patented `Apr. 24, 1923.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR H. LEVIN'E, 0F NEW YORK, N.y Y.

PROCESS FOR ORNAMENTING SURFACES.

Application filed September, 1921.

l To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. LEVINE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of 1354 Brook Avenue, in the county the provision of an improved process for- 115 the treatment of surfaces of Celluloid or the like to produce ornamental effects thereon. While my present invention has a wide range of usefulness, inasmuch as it finds a eculiar field of utility as an efficient process 26B or the production of ysurfaces ornamented by the deposition of a material or of materials thereon along predetermined designs or with predetermined outlines, I will proceed to describe my invention in connection with the production of surfaces ornamented by deposltion of matter thereon, it. being understood, of course, that this is done merely as a matter of convenience as to those phases of my invention which have such broader 30 lield of utility. In practice I have found that ornamenting surfaces b the deposition of a substance such as a co oring material,A

is attended with a number of difficulties, amon $5 fact t at the colorin matter tends to run, resulting in a lack o clear outline as well as other deleterious effects, and that attendant upon the fact that the liner ornamental features, such as hair lines, are difficult. to produce by direct application by means of a tool such as a brush. These difficulties are particularly present where the surface to be ornamented is of Celluloid.

Where in the following specification'the terms colored and Iuncolored are used,

it will be understood that the former is intended to refer to the contrasting effect produced by treating a portion of the surface which is that attendant upon the' Serial No. 497,938.

with a substance lwhich results in such contrast, and that the latter term refers to the surface in its natural or unchanged state. Furthermore, where the term coloring matter is used in this specification, it is intended to refer to substances which, when applled to portions of a surface, produce a contrastin effect thereon.

Where Ihave attempted to overcome the difficulties by the use of a resist before applying the coloring matter as hitherto practiced, I have found that where I painted the surface with a resist about the outlines of the ornament to be formed, and then painted with the resist the liner hair lines Within such outline, such hair lines could not be made sufficiently refined because, first, of the well-known characteristic of resists which do not permit of satisfactory results in this particular, and furthermore, because the tool or brush that was necessarily used also made the desired effect impossible of attainment. Where, on the other hand, I covered a portion of the surface with the resist and then removed sufficient of the resist to give the outline, leaving within the outline the hair lines to form the interior ornamentation, I found that a large amount of resist was necessary, and this resist must ultimately be removed. This waste as well as the additional labor involved, made this method unsatisfactory. Furthermore, both of the above methods produce the or-. nament in color with the surface thereabout uncolored, and this character of ornamentation is not the most'desirable.

For the purpose of distinguishing between ornamented portions of a surface which are of substantial dimensions in both length and width, with what are known as hair line ornamentation, I have used the terms gross and fine Ythroughout the specification and claims.

Among the more important objects of my invention are: The provision of a process for ornamenting surfaces by produc-'ing contrasting effects in which the sharp outlines are secured both as to gross ornamentation and as to finer hair lined ornamentation; the provlsion of a process for ornamenting surfaces which comprises the stepsA of pro-yv ducing the gross ornamentation by deposition of a resist,and the finer lines by removal of a portion of the resist which has been deposited; and the provision generally of a new and improved process for ornanenting surfaces of materials such as celluoid.

- The successive steps in mylprocess have been illustrated in the drawings where Fig. 1 shows a mirror ornamented by my process;

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 show each step in the process used by me to produce a fragment of such ornamentation;

Fig. 6 shows a cross section through a portion of said ornamented surface; and

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate two steps in the production of a border line.

In the drawings I have illustrated my invention as used to ornament the back of a mirror with a floral design for purposes of convenience only, and I will hereinafter describe my invention in connection with a fragment of this design, it being understood, of course, that what is said applies as a matter of fact to the production of the whole ornamentation at one time.

Although my process involves generally the steps of coating with a resist and then treating the surface not coated to produce a contrasting effect, the particular way in which these steps have been practiced, have been found by me to give the desired ornamental effect, with a minimum expenditure of effort and material.

Fig. 1 illustrates the first stage in my process which comprises the step of paintlng upon the surface to be ornamented, with a resist such as asphaltum, the desired figure or design, of which an example is illustrated at 21 in Fig. 2, the design being solid with no interior ornamentation or lines. A tool such as the brush shown at 22 ma be used for this purpose.Y The gross out ine shown in this figure can be eiliciently produced in this manner.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated the second stage of my procedure which is that of removing from this asphaltum coating, the portions thereof with a sharp instrument, such as the knife shown at 23, these portions 24 corresponding to what are to be the finer hair line decorations appearing within the design. The asphaltum design thus produced is in effect the exact design aimed for.

I now apply to the surface which, if desired, can e bounded by border lines produced in a manner to be described hereinafter, the material as shown at in Fig. a which when deposited produces the desired contrasting effect, such as a dye substance for example. This step in my process has been illustrated in Fig. 4, although as is obvious, it is not necessary to apply this substance to all of that portion of the surface covered by the asphaltum. As is ob- -vious, this substance will b`e prevented from contact with the surface to he ornamented, Wherever such surface is covered by the asphaltum. I'Vhen the dye has become fixed, the resist is then removed in any desired orV preferred manner, such as by the application of warm Water, with the resulting ornamental floral design effect shown at in Fig. 5, the stippling 27 in this ligure being intended to show the colored surface. Where su the coloring matter used is a dye, the production of the design thereby as described above, will result in the raised effect brought out clearly in Fig. 6.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have illustrated the 35 manner of producing a border line, the steps of which are generally the same as that used in effecting the design already described; as shown in Fig. 7, a broad line 31 is painted with asphaltum, within which-the line border line is to be contained. With a.

`sharp instrument such as that illustrated at 23 in Fig 3, I remove the asphaltum to produce the sharp line shown at 32 in Fi 8. The dye is then applied and the asphaI- I tum removed as described previously to produce a very fine hair line border.

In using the above process in ornamenting Celluloid surfaces, I have discovered that there is a tendency for the coloring substance to work through the asphaltum, with the obvious unsatisfactory results. To overcome this difficulty in the practice of my invention, which is caused in part at least by the undesired solubility of the asphaltum in the presence of an aniline dye, I have found it desirable to use as a resist, a composition made up of asphaltum mixed with either beeswax or paraffme or both.

The term resist as used throughout this specification is intended to refer to all such substances, which when applied to a portion of a surface prevents any substance from reaching or acting on such portion of the surface.-

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following: Y

1. In the art of ornament-ing surfaces .the process of producing the design by the use of a resist which comprises the steps of formin the gross design by deposition of the resist and forming the finer design portions by removing portions of the resist so deposited.

2. In the art of ornamenting surfaces, the process of producing the desired design by the use of a resist which comprises the steps of forming the' gross design with 'a resist and then removing portions of the resist to sign portions. 10 produce the finer portions ofthe design. In witness whereof, I have hereunder 3. In the art of ornamenting surfaces, the signed my name this 24th day of August, process which includes the steps of forming 1921.

ARTHUR H. LEVINE.

removing with a sharp instrument portions of the resist to correspond with the finer dethe gross design with a resist, and of then 

